This document discusses AIDS and race relations in New York City during the 1980s. It focuses on how AIDS disproportionately impacted African Americans and other minority groups due to lack of education and medical support. Racial stigma led people to believe AIDS was a "gay disease" and ignore its spread among minorities. Government neglect exacerbated the epidemic in minority and low-income communities. The document examines individual accounts and statistics to argue that racism prevented an effective response to the AIDS crisis.

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Lyle Grossi
Professor Strub
Senior Seminar Research
May 12th, 2015
AIDS and Race Relations During the 1980’s in New York City and Elsewhere
A young man named Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan and he
had a dream of one day becoming a professional basketball player. At 12 years old he
found the drive to put pure dedication and time into the sport he loved. At his time in
high school, Johnson Jr. eventually got the name “Magic” after a sportswriter witnessed a
game he was in and the statistics he put up were pure magic. The name, “Magic” stuck
with him throughout the rest of his playing days and evolved into his identity as an
athlete. After high school he went on to Michigan State University and showed much
promise into eventually becoming drafted into the NBA. Magic was drafted by the
Lakers and set off a storied title run with an already gifted franchise. He had much
success throughout his years playing basketball, but not a single game was as important
as what would happen next.
A popular African-American basketball player has just contracted HIV and this
not only shocked Johnson, but the rest of the American public. How could a guy so
mucho like Magic Johnson contract HIV that cannot be even possible, right? Wrong.
Magic was not careful with his sexual affairs throughout the years and most likely slept
with a woman who already contracted the disease. Furthermore Magic Johnson and his
story set the stage for the rest of the research came to be relevant amongst the black
community and the rest of the American public. Also how AIDS played a role in the
racial tension that had accumulated throughout the years.

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AIDS was neglected in the 1980’s, but was especially ignored and racially
divided in the New York City area. New York City was already a racially and ethically
diverse metropolitan city and would be an ideal location to discuss how AIDS played a
role in racial tension. An importance is to discuss the stories of individual’s living with
this disease and having to face the pressure of first being African American, but along
with that they also had just contracted AIDS. The culture in any community at this time
was not accepting to the idea of AIDS and the disease was considered to be a “gay”
disease during the 1980’s. Different sources of media spread misinformation and this
lead to a false belief about the individuals that actually contracted the disease.
The statistical research mainly focused on White homosexual males, drug users,
and African American men who were apart of the dominant groups. Then there were
social problems and stigmas associated with these statistics. The stigma of AIDS
generally did not concern any African Americans so these individuals did not tend to give
it another thought. The statistics were taken from New York City health records and
studies, which took into affect the three categories that were discussed earlier. The
context and understanding of the racial strain had to be taken with individual accounts
from those who lived with the disease and those who tried to help prevent the outbreak of
AIDS in minority communities. The primary minority communities that were center to
the disease included New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago. These individuals had
to cope with the disease and live with the stigmas attached to either being HIV positive or
a host for AIDS and a potential disperser of the AIDS virus. Two books that I will be
exerting from are The Story of AIDS and Black America by Jacob Levenson and The
Boundaries of Blackness Aids and the Breakdown of Black Politics by Cathy J. Cohen.

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Both of these books are instrumental in discussing the ordeals African-American citizens
had to face during the rise of the epidemic. Ultimately, race plays a role in the spread of
the epidemic because African-Americans were not getting the same treatments and care
that their white counterparts were receiving such as male homosexuals during this time.
The attitude during the 1980’s to give help to African-American AIDS patient was less
concerning in America and this led to many unneeded deaths by these individuals. Jacob
Levenson catches onto my theme by stating, “It was strange, especially considering that
black sexuality was such a flashpoint for race relations…Now a disease that was spread
sexually had ben killing blacks in significant disproportionate numbers for seven years,
and nobody at the federal level had funded any serious investigations into black
sexuality.”1
Stigmas Associated with Race and AIDS
The stigmas associated with the AIDS disease transformed how African-
Americans in the 1980’s especially in New York City had to face. The progression of
American culture and society from the 1960’s and Civil Rights played a role on how
AIDS will be treated amongst the black community. New York City and especially the
Village were labeled for being a community of homosexuals harboring the AIDS disease.
The so-called reference of AIDS to be the “gay” disease or a disease only drug users
contract was nothing far from the truth. President Ronald Reagan ignored AIDS for the
most part of his presidency until it eventually grew to a nation wide crisis. At this point
the AIDS epidemic spread so vastly that the government was working from behind to
keep up and help combat it. Public officials only got concerned with the needs of citizens
if it will affect their image in the ratings or the next election. The complete and utter

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ignorance shown by the President and his administration does not help the problems
surfacing on the streets, but relies the ignorance shown to African-Americans and
homosexuals that the general public thought was far from being helped. According to
studies done by Samuel Friedman and others believed the lack of medical institutions and
efforts to help those affected with the disease were primarily based on their race.2 The
researchers also believed black and Hispanic gays were a lot less organized than their
white gay counterparts, and this led to those of a different race to be labeled as a drug
user because they are a minority and are not represented as an upstanding citizen.3
The question is then begged what if minorities and whites both had a equal
playing ground for medical supports, and does this mean that epidemic could have been
avoided? The hypothetical question can be raised with any circumstance, but when it
concerns health then there must be a way to overstep traditional procedures in order to
help the betterment of the general public. Especially black and Latino women who were
labeled as being carriers of the disease and this was primarily based on their
economically situation. Many minorities including those of African-American and
Latino descent in New York City were living in poverty without the adequate education
or health care resources in order to keep them safe from the AIDS epidemic. Karen M.
Booth describes Latino and African-American women in particular at risk for carrying
the disease and passing it onto to others.4 The idea that women of African-American
descent were seen as promiscuous and that their sex lives had to do with the spread of the
disease and this caused for a racial viewpoint of these group of women. The sexual
politics come into play when a woman’s sex life were brought into question and the
understanding on how to blame the mother of the child is in this case a particular racial

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motivator because it only concerned ethnic minorities and not Caucasian mothers. The
importance of targeting women according to Karen M. Booth has nothing to do with
them actually being women, but these women being ethnically diverse and having a
stereotype of not being responsible for their sex life. Booth uses Hammond’s argument
affectively to discuss the implications of not being sympathetic to the mother and try to
fix the problem at the source, but yet ignore it because it does not involve white middle
class women and families.5
The discussion of Africa-American gay men was not so relevant in Karen M.
Booth’s article, but yet involves a slim view on what this means for AIDS. The lack of
information given out to African-American or any other ethically diverse person was slim
to none. The interesting topic of “Baby AIDS” brought up by Booth explains the disease
coming inbreed with the woman and passed down to the child and have them as the
carrier, but not all cases of women with AIDS had to be concerned with the passing it on
to their offspring. According to Booth’s article and her research she seems to gather,
“most infected women who give birth each year are black or Hispanic”. The case
implores that these women of black and Hispanic ethnicity can be violated by civil rights
in order to keep the babies safety in mind. The safety in question derives from the safety
of the general public and not so much for the safety of the child. The idea that this child
is harboring the disease inside of her and one day can spread it on to another person is
threatening to those of middle class families and specifically white men in particular.
Even though this so-called “risky behavior” by women of different color or ethnicity has
consequences, but even more so that women or men having unprotected sex has severe
consequences as well.

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Gay men make the disease less critical on women of color to be demonized and
this realization helps with the foundation of a new brought about “motherhood”. Women
will be required to testing and surveillance in order for them to be deemed as being good
mothers and suitable to bare a child. Gay men according to the studies done by both are
prohibiting women of gaining research on the disease and Dwyer seem to blame
homosexual males for this occurrence unfortunately.6 Booth makes an everlasting
statement by saying, “Such heterosexism allows the realities of widespread racism,
classism, and sexism within the health and welfare systems to go unmentioned and
unexamined.”7 The belief of a inbreed system to continually allow this to occur is truly
the real problem those affected with the disease face. Racism and the relations between
the disease demonstrate a cause lacking without a viable voice to represent the needs of a
whole, but only of the part that is receiving all of the help. There are those of different
skin color getting diagnosed every day of carrying the disease and harboring children, but
do not know how to go about preventing this matter in the first place.
AIDS being predominantly gay disease is a misconception, which hurt others like
minorities to have the proper education to combat the disease. There was a surveillance
study done for the New York City area that revealed percentages of people who
contracted the disease and broke it down by race: 45 percent for whites, 31 percent for
blacks, 23 percent for Hispanics, and 1 percent for others this included 34 Asians and 7
Native Americans.8 The research indicates that African-Americans are much more likely
to be affected with AIDS through a means of IV drug using and the representation could
be overrepresented and this is while the white representation could be underrepresented.
The problem suffices biases instituted by the government level to ostracize the African-

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American population from the general public. The cases shifted in percentage from white
cases decreasing 52 percent to 44 percent, this is while blacks increased 27 percent to 34
percent, and Hispanics increased 21 percent to 24 percent.9 The examination of
differences is a negligent reaction when the cases were first looked at prior to 1985 and
after 1985 took on a whole new outlook. The focus on AIDS had changed past the idea
of being a gay disease and has reverted into become a disease which is more dominant in
minority groups.
The lack of educational assistance to minorities does not help in their fight, but
makes them more willing to give up. Middle-class white America believes with their
proper education they are able to fight AIDS and know there are alternatives ways to live
longer with the disease. The social mindset of the general public led to this lack of belief
that African-Americans actually needed help because they did not deserve it. A number
of white respondents to a survey included in Cathy J. Cohen’s book express at how white
citizens had a strong belief that black citizens were generally lazy. The ideology of this
phenomenon would make fewer strides to help out an African-American person where
they are seen to not be able to help themselves, and this is while white Americans
actually control most of the healthcare system as well as the federal government.10 The
lack of motivation to be willing to set aside racist stigmas made it hard to want to help
African-Americans suffering from the AIDS disease in massive numbers. Cohen
explains the importance of black sexuality and how it is conceived in the minds of the
black community as a whole.11 The African-American community has an inbreeded
homophobic view and acknowledging AIDS in their community is a backlash to their
conceived beliefs. Religious groups, political and social organization all ostracize the

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belief of that there are individuals who are homosexual in their race. Even individuals
inside their own race had been out casted and left with no support because of their belief
that AIDS is a gay disease and can not possibly happen to them so this belief exists on the
basis of ignorance and lack of knowledge.
The idea brought up in Cathy Cohen’s book describes her idea of marginalization,
which describes how black men as violent and a threat to white women.12 AIDS and its
victims were not seen as traditional cases in the health care system and were given less
responsibility by the country. The most affected areas of the country included those of
poor and color inhabitants and were not given any help unless it included them going to
prison or a mental institution. The oppression faced by these individuals did not just stop
at this level, but carried into the educational system displaying African-Americans of
being self-servant unless its under the ideals of the general white public. Martin Luther
King Jr. transcended this ordeal, but had support from white American citizens as well,
which made the movement more acceptable to happen in the 1960’s. The involvement of
white Americans in anything concerning African-Americans is crucial for any change
happening for them because the demeanor explores a necessity of white Americans to
supervisor over their African-American counterparts. This idea explores the background
basis of the conceived notion of the “White Man’s Burden” and these individuals have to
ultimately help out the inferior race. Groups like the Centers for Disease Control or the
CDC contribute to the out casting of the African Americans and this reflected on their
lack of effort to do what was needed in order to help this group of people out.
An exploitation of blame has been consistent throughout human history to put the
fault of a major problem onto people without significant support. AIDS was one of these

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faulting events that took the blame off of the medical establishments as well as the
federal government and pin it on black Americans. The presence of African-Americans
to have a role model that they could look up to could not be found unless athletics was
involved. Then there were plenty of NBA players and NFL stars who young African-
Americans inspire to be to get out of the circumstance these athletes were in. The
problem with the American media is that it has never portrayed African Americans other
than in villainous roles, and prejudices toward how their character was perceived as. The
idea is to keep the African-American population suppressed and AIDS was another way
for the media to exploit their already tarnished race. Dominant groups according to
Cohen would not allow African-Americans to step out of their place in society, which has
been instituted for them already without knowing it.13 Actions and beliefs lead towards a
difference of outlook between white Americans and black Americans. Furthermore there
is only few black Americans allowed to come into the upper class and this action makes it
seem by illusion that any African-American could obtain that status, but unfortunately
they cannot.
African American men have always been posed as a threat to white women. In
the Philip Bryan Harper article, Harper examines how historically black men have been a
savagely portrayed toward white woman and the effects this had on the social order of the
United States.14 These facts from Harper’s journal entry are head to fathom and these
included of the 167,803 people that died from AIDS there was a total of 38,391 deaths to
African American Males.15 These males at the time only made up less than 6 percent of
the total U.S. population so the distribution was rather uneven when it came to those
figures.16 Those in the African American community had a phobia to homosexuality and

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these same individuals wanted to denounce any notion of homosexual tendencies going
on in their race. AIDS was either a drug user disease or a gay disease and African
Americans found with AIDS were always assumed of being drug users. The lack of
acceptance inside the African American community made it hard for those in their own
race to go come out and be proud of who they really are. The idea also included other
races and cultures outside of the African American community who were still deciding
what they thought of homosexuality. There was and still is an influence of religious
belief in matters of sexuality and the families had to determine how they felt about it.
New York City had a cataclysmic incident occurring in their backyard and this
was without any proper intelligence about which African Americans were contracting the
AIDS disease. According to Quimby and Friedman the research looked at the New York
City Health Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Joseph who said there was a denial about the
epidemic in the black community and at this point in time there was nothing Dr. Joseph
could do at this time to halt the AIDS disease from ravaging the African American
public.17 The negligence shown by the Health Commissioner in New York examples a
complete ignorance to the formation of the disease and there was new proper set of
political figures at the time to demand for a change to the system. When there were black
political officials elected to office in New York City these politicians did not see it as a
health issue, but a social issue.18 The sound proof was there to show the social spectrum
of negligence by the New York City’s Health Official that were not concerned with the
impoverished areas of New York City that were embedded with minorities and African
Americans.

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The polarization of the African-American race within themselves economically
distinguishes themselves vastly. The separation of income between rich and poor
African-American differ greatly than rich and poor white Americans. The setback could
be that poor African-Americans just get poorer than the poor white Americans. The
distribution of wealth caused strife between both classes discussed in Cohen’s Book and
was an account taken from Waldinger.19 Black sexuality was another way the African-
American race distinguished from each other, but this separation was more based on
values than the idea of economical differences. Many of these individuals get labeled
and placed into categories based on the belief of the whole African-American population
by grouping AIDS victims as being underclass, homosexual, drug addict, single mother.20
Newly elected African-American officials had the power now to help out the
communities of their constituents who were plagued with the AIDS epidemic. Yet these
black public officials did nothing and were less likely to help by separating from these
individuals. The code names used for these individuals were junkie, faggot, punk, and
prostitute. The understanding among blacks in higher economic and social standards
wanted to distinguish differences from one another and they are none of the same.21 The
important concept to remember is a stigma with a person or a group of people lasts, but
does not reveal a face behind the story. The victims of AIDS and them being African-
American caused for much concern for the public, but did not address the underlining
message of racial tension between the races of white and black.
First Hand Accounts of AIDS
The individuals who suffered with the disease has a story to tell as well and the
1980’s brought people from an array of different lifestyles and backgrounds together to

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fight this disease that’s been killing them in mass numbers. Not all of them knew at the
time what exactly it was, but these victims of AIDS heard from sources of the media and
general public. There was an overall misconception of the AIDS disease at first
understood as a gay disease, but when it reached out to other communities than the
concern grew and those who lived in these communities had to take action. The
American public at the time was hesitant of helping out because there was
misinformation given out about how AIDS was spread and the information given at the
time was that AIDS can be contracted through such ways as body fluids, sex and IV
drugs, and these were all considered popular forms of contraction. Ben from the Jacob
Levenson’s book, The Secret Epidemic The Story of AIDS and Black America thought
that these forms of transmission were the reason for the rapid spread of the disease. Body
fluids such as kissing or sneezing on someone were mistakenly incorrect about the
natural spread of the AIDS virus. AIDS is a virus that is contracted through the
bloodstream and affects the immune system and the white blood cells. In the 1980’s
there was not efficient medical research done on AIDS to inform the public what to think
of the disease otherwise. Jacob Levenson with his research and interviews included those
who suffered with the disease and the racial biases that went along with it, and also those
who tried to help rid the African American community of the retched AIDS disease,
which was dismantling their neighborhoods. Public figures such as Magic Johnson,
Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Heckler would be discussed in detail in this section to give
more of an iconic view from historical figures, and their encounter and actions with the
disease.

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Mindy grew up in Orange, New Jersey during the 1950’s and 1960’s so her
upbringing shaped her political and racial view from then on.22 When Mindy was just six
years old, her father who was a leader of the black labor movement saw it broken up by
McCarthyism, so there was already a sense of stigmatism she had to face in her early
years of life.23 The basis of being called a McCarthyist to dispose any creditability a
person may have to someone of higher authority and was also referenced as being anti-
American. Mindy grew up studying the foundations and the conditions of what a black
family had to face in America. Following Mindy’s studies she looked to be apart of a
research team that focused on the AIDS epidemic, but the research team at first did not
include minorities. Sala one of the researchers on the team wanted her to come in to
bring some diversity to the research team and Mindy would provide a fresh new face with
her expertise in order to give a different input. Sala and his research team was primarily
based in San Francisco at the time and focused on the relation between black drug users
of heroin and they were neglecting proper health procedures by sharing infected needles,
which contributed even more to the spread of AIDS in the community.24 Sala saw a huge
problem in Black America festering in the shadows where many were carriers for the
disease without ever knowing it.
There was a belief that is a minority organization was funded to help spread
information about the disease to the American public then it could have halted the rapid
spread of infection throughout minority communities. The research money that was
given to AIDS research was funded loosely to minority research and just focused
primarily on white male homosexuals or even white heterosexual men and women. The
money was not efficient enough to be spared to white male homosexuals and to

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minorities and Sala did not believe the doctors to be acting on a racist opinion at the time.
Levenson states a belief very important to the problem in America by saying, “Black and
whites had yet to develop a new language or conceptual framework to address the crisis
that continued to plague black America.”25
According to Sala he saw walking skeletons of black men that UCSF blankly
avoided to help treat and realized there could had been something done to prevent these
unnecessary deaths. The system was broken not just in San Francisco, but also
everywhere in the country for African American and this was basically due to them not
receiving the proper medical care or education. There were those in government who
thought that leaving the African American community for dead was a feasible choice and
without giving them proper medical treatment was another option. Levenson also
described the disease as being labeled a gay white man disease and this was just seen as
popular belief at the time. The numbers unlike popular belief explained different stories
with 24 percent of AIDS cases were black, 74 percent of women with AIDS were black
or Latino, and 54 percent of all pediatric AIDS cases were black.26 There is actual data to
tell how much money that was actually given to African American and it implores, “The
Public Health Service projected the CDC would spend a combined 282.2 million dollars
on HIV prevention in 1987 and 1988. Only 6 percent of that was specifically targeted at
minorities.”27 Even the CDC discriminated economically against minority groups and
perpetuated the epidemic to last longer than it should have for African Americans.
There was further data in Levenson that pinpointed at sexual behavior and drug
use in San Francisco’s black and Latino neighborhoods and how this information hardly
even existed so it would be hard to manage a strategy to combat it.28 Mindy knew that

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there were no AIDS researchers who gathered any information or data in neighborhoods
that contained minorities. Mindy’s goal was to identify these individuals who were
affected and to make a significant data to represent the minorities in these communities
that other researchers deemed as insignificant. A co-worker to Mindy named Steve
wanted her to compose her own AIDS study in the minority neighbors and the hope was
to aspire the rest of the nation to do something about AIDS developing in minority
communities. There was not significant evidence that described a true understanding on
how black sexuality and racism played a role in the spread of AIDS violently throughout
America.
Mindy understood the foundations of racism and how it will be hard to break
down an organization like CDC to lend more help to the African American community.
There was a girl named Desi who grew up in Oakland, California as an African American
and even at an early age she accepted the cruelty and injustice that faced her skin color.
Until one day it got too much for her to bare so Desi took her outlet to drugs like many
others around that area. It was not until she had an encounter with a man named Eddie
who she knew previously, but unlike the last time when they had consensual sex, this
time he just forced himself on her. When Eddie was finally finished he told Desi that he
killed her and told her that he got her. At the time Desi did not really understood what all
of this meant at first, but then she got tested and learned she contracted the AIDS disease.
Now Desi had to live throughout her days knowing she has been marked with a
tremendous deadly disease that killed African American women in great number as it
killed African American men. Desi would not fair well if she had looked to seek
treatment for the disease that she acquired unwilling, because African Americans were

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always last on the list, but even so African American women were dead last. As
mentioned before African American women were seen as bringing this on themselves
because of their sexual nature and their practice of sex was unsafe.
Ben came onto the research team later on to assist Mindy in her research that took
place in San Francisco’s minority neighborhoods. Ben was a specialist in the areas of
black problems including poverty, segregation, and education, but he was not too familiar
with the AIDS virus at first. Harlem was mentioned on being fractured and darkened and
Levenson seemed to be described it as a forbidden land in New York and this area of
New York Citybwas labeled as the epicenter for the African American community and
the people who lived there were losing their shape, identity, and place in American
imagination.29 Harlem before the 1980’s exampled cultural impact from music, poetry
and other forms of arts that defined this sector of New York City and was highly regarded
as a positive figure throughout American. Ben agreed to be apart of the undercover
assignment along with another researcher named Lewis and these two individuals would
be responsible for gathering up significant information. Ben, Mindy and others on the
research staff associated a correlation between crack and sex linking them to one another
and then the research proved that one lead to another, which finally lead to contracting
AIDS. Many of the individuals Ben spoken to were young and got enriched into the drug
and sex culture, which had become more relevant amongst the African American
community. Furthermore this realization attributed to an outbreak of gonorrhea around
the San Francisco area and Mindy realized there could be a connection between
gonorrhea and AIDS because these two sexually transmitted disease only happened
through intercourse. Mindy and the rest of the researchers knew they needed to bring this

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to Washington D.C. to see if anything can be done to help prevent even more with the
spread of the disease.
The Reagan administration has not dedicated the necessary resources to
successfully addressing AIDS in the black community, but Mindy knew that the White
House was disturbed by the nation’s growing crack epidemic so she thought this might be
a way to get her message across. Ben had conversation with actual young black men in
the San Francisco area and they described to him the culture they were apart of. Young
black men just went about sex unprotected and did not care of the cost it left for them or
the woman they were involved with. These young black men saw women as dispensable
and were only good for having sex, but if they caught anything from the woman these
young men were find her and beat her or possibly kill her. They were not at all
knowledge about the silent terror looming in their city and killing countless of their
fellow young black men and women everyday. Furthermore African American men and
women did not realize that their actions had not only dire consequences for them, but
would affect their neighborhood in an awful way as well. Basically this was happening
without proper education to gear these young people in the right path of prevention and
there was not a proper medical care system present if they eventually ended up with the
disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Director of the Division of
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Williard goes on to say at the 1988 STD National
conference in Boston and when he states, “The CRACK HOUSE of today has become
what the gay bathhouse was yesterday with regard to all sexually transmitted disease.”30
There was an idea that the way of educating white homosexuals about the disease and
how to prevent it may help with the African American community, but this was all in

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theory and not actually form of education. Affiliates to the CDC like Willard Cates who
believed it to be natural for a black community to suffer from sexually transmitted
diseases and blankly puts the blame and the fault back on the African American
community for acting uncivilized in a sense. Cates has a racial bias to the thought of
STD’s and black America and his ignorance like many other researchers at this time
eludes the problems actually facing the African American community and the nation.
Mindy went into Washington D.C. for a Conference about public health and she
had no real understanding on what she would be facing once she step in foot to discuss
her research. There was a biasness to her own race and this biasness resulted from the
African American culture not to be able to control their urges. Basically the
understanding is to put the blame back on the African Americans because this is the
lifestyle they had chosen and now have to be left to deal with the consequences that they
had a hand in causing. The black problems associated with AIDS included crack, heroin,
family breakdown, poverty and homophobia and this was all pointed straight back at
Mindy’s own race.31 The consequences dealt with resulted from African Americans not
receiving the proper help and education to fight out of these dire circumstances. Mindy
believed there was a connection between communal decay and the AIDS epidemic.32
The ghettos are a present representation of black America and how these individuals are
brought up and raised. A notion to an area code or a neighborhood in Hip Hop music
was a shout out to the hood they use to live in and the circumstances they had to conquer
in order to get out, but still these rappers held their neighborhoods they grew up in dear to
their hearts. Young black culture responded to this mindset and did not look to separate
from the terrors accumulating in the dark. The darkness brought AIDS and this cannot be

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settle with any song or gang banging, but actually medical institution and social reform to
get their fellow African Americans appropriate care. Mindy wanted to explore this so
called feeling to the black community and see if there was a way to improve the
circumstances that had fallen unto these neighborhoods. Contagious housing destruction,
Wallace argued, had been set off by the rash of fires that burned through New York
City’s minority neighborhoods from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s. The decay of
these areas lead to cheaper rent and this was when Latinos and blacks moved into the
area. Then when the AIDS epidemic happened the area that was affected most was the
area settled by black and Latino Americans in South Central Bronx.33
There were other organizations apart of the AIDS crisis that Mindy and Ben
discovered to learn, which had their own the racist agenda and save some lives in the
process. One of these organizations was MIRA. MIRA was founded on the premise that
its research team’s blackness qualified them to investigate AIDS in minority
communities. The idea would be more bearing to be able to handle someone inside of
their own race observing them than someone who is outside the African American race.
There was a sense of biasness believed to be against Caucasian reporters or scientists
because these individuals would be a undermining them because the African American
man or woman would just be seen as a guinea pig to a story or a study. New York was
the fallen capital of black American in the 1980’s and New York was considered the
epicenter of the epidemic and this city created much focus on the disease. AIDS was
seen as another test for African Americans to endure a struggle facing them, but yet
maintain a framework to keep the foundation of the community together and have a will
to combat the disease. The belief was there that African Americans conquered struggles

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in the past such as slavery, segregation and racism so why would it not be any different
from AIDS? The problem with AIDS results from the health sector of society not taken
responsibility to the lack of action toward minority communities and just have them root
infested with the AIDS disease. Black churches in the South such as in the community of
Anderson County led a joint effort against slavery and the Jim Crow laws. Their efforts
were to bring that black community spiritually, politically, and an often material anchor
to hold them altogether. Half of the battle was to create a fund in order to help African
Americans suffering with the AIDS disease and to have these resources distributed
efficiently and fairly to the right participants.
Margaret Heckler who at the time of the crisis was the Secretary of Health and
Human Resources under the Reagan Administration from March 1983 to December
1985. When Heckler was first approached with the offer she had to first realize that
AIDS was a primary concern in the country. Heckler had no idea what AIDS even was,
but Dr. Edward Brandt described it to her as a disease that is killing young people, and
the hospital wards in areas like San Francisco were crowed with those affected with the
AIDS disease.34 During the Reagan administration, President Ronald Reagan was a
typical conservative who wanted to cut the budget and make sure all expenses were up to
date and taken care of. Heckler had a plan to have it broken down by scientific experts
who can resolve basic medical questions about the disease and provide an answer to
patients as well as the rest of the American Public.35
According to Heckler her goal was to make AIDS a priority at the Department of
Health and Human Resources, but how much effort and money would go into this
program that she held so important? The interviewer really dug into her deep in order to

21. Grossi 21
get the question answered and to really just understand where Heckler was coming in the
case of Americans suffering from the AIDS crisis. Heckler repeats many times in her
answer to the question about the economical support for AIDS research, but does not give
a definite figure. The image Heckler was painting resulted from her ability to turn it back
on the President and how it was his agenda to cut budget costs nation wide. Margaret
Heckler never mentioned AIDS around Reagan according to her, but with many people
dying in America from the disease that cannot be the absolute truth. Heckler saw many
patients at the Clinical Center to get a first hand encounter on how AIDS was affecting
the American public. There was never a mention about race being an issue in the AIDS
crisis in Margaret Hackler’s interview with PBS and Frontline.
Heckler kind of never mentioned it or did not think of it a serious issue, but it was
the foundation of negligence politics that saw many minorities killed. Heckler also at one
time saw the news stories spreading about individuals who were gay by being unsafe and
possessing AIDS, but the mishandling of information made it worse in the American
public. Heckler seemed to go public at the time with the mayor from New York City at
the time Ed Koch to eradicate any incorrect disposition made toward AIDS and its
patients. Unfortunately, the misinformation about how AIDS was spread made people
according to Heckler weary of being served by waiters or any other career that concern a
job in a person’s personal space.36 Heckler wanted to quickly dispel all myths about the
AIDS disease and sought help of individuals from NIH and CDC and the Public Health
Service. Ronald Reagan never formally announced these myths to be untrue according to
Heckler, but she believed the work from NIH and HHS would help solve the problem.

22. Grossi 22
Heckler seemed to also take a sympathetic role to Reagan’s Politics because as
she states, “[That was] one of the reasons that I supported him when he cam in with his
budgetary program and his whole package, his Reagonomics.”37 Heckler does not
formally mention in her interview anything about what these organizations were doing
with these funds and what the results were for the research that these organizations were
conducting. There insufficient proof of research done in her time as Secretary of Human
Health and Service besides her noting that there was a total of about 5.7 billion dollars
spent on research. Heckler believed that the right minds such as Dr. Gallo were on the
right track to supply answers for the AIDS disease. Unfortunately for Heckler the
vaccine was not available when Bob Gallo said it was going to be and this resulted in
strain from the American public to the Health department. The interview questioned
Heckler to determine if Dr. Gallo possibly misled her, but Heckler had the utmost respect
for him and Heckler did not feel it in her best interest to question Gallo. Heckler seemed
to be ignorant to the actual facts behind the deaths of many Americans to AIDS and who
actually helped to rid communities of AIDS. Heckler did not also realize the effect that
AIDS had in minority communities and had it plagued them throughout the duration of
her role as Secretary.
Heckler’s message was to commend the CDC and NIH, but in accordance to
Mindy and her encounter with the CDC there seems to be lack of motivation to help out
minority Americans. Heckler wanted to restate Reagan’s victories before concluding the
interview by stating how his work with Reaganomics, his economic policy, and his war
on communism was all-inclusive in his agenda, but did not grasp his lack of help and
support to minorities and homosexuals suffering from AIDS.38 Heckler never stated

23. Grossi 23
statistical percentages and rates on how many lived and died under her reign as Secretary
for Human Health and Services, which would of lent more of an insight to how effective
she was. Unfortunately for Margaret Heckler she was boosting for a flawed CDC that let
many minorities with the AIDS disease die without the proper care and this went on
beyond her service so the fault still lies with her, but even extends further past Heckler
into any perspective Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson an icon on and off the basketball court rallied around his
November 7th, 1991 interview, which reveals Johnson, has just contracted the AIDS
disease. The announcement comes in the prime of his career while he was dominating on
the court winning several NBA titles and MVPS with the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson
states how he must retire from the game of basketball because if he keeps playing he
could harm his immune system.39 AIDS was an immune deficiency disease that attacked
the immune system and could lead to death from a common cold if the virus kills off
many of his white blood cells. Johnson realized it was much more important to not
continue with basketball and focus on himself and the well being of his family. Johnson
had a motivation to persist on with the knowledge of contracting the disease, but not
letting it define him or bring him down. Johnson even stated at the press conference,
which shed light on the disease by saying, “I think sometimes we think, well, only gay
people can get it –‘It’s not going to happen to me.’ And here I am saying that it can
happen to anybody, even me, Magic Johnson.”40 He reveals his humanity at the time that
anyone can contract the disease no matter who the person is, because living a healthy
lifestyle is very important to remember. Sex is one of those areas that African American
men struggled to maintain a safe sex life and to wear protection in every intimate

24. Grossi 24
encounter with a female. Johnson was known to be unfaithful throughout his marriage so
he slept with plenty of women at the time and it was most likely possible that one of these
females already had the disease festered inside of her. As stated before Johnson did not
want to receive pit for what has happened to him, but be a symbol to those to be strong
and to fit the disease and let it not be seen anymore as a death sentence to any of those
just finding out they contracted the disease. Along with Magic Johnson, David Stern, the
N.B.A. commissioner at the time and former players to Johnson like Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar and Michael Cooper would all ban together and provide AIDS education to the
public.41
Magic Johnson stated he was happy that his wife, Earletha (Cookie) Kelly did not
have the disease and he was very thankful for the news.42 Those around the N.B.A.
expressed their support and encouragement of Johnson coming out saying he got the
AIDS disease. There was many in the public and media after growing up watching
Johnson play could not believe a guy so energetic and healthy could possibly get the
disease. The serious problem lies here in the general public’s belief and complete
ignorance on who could get affected and after they are then what is the next step for these
individuals. Even in 1991 the AIDS epidemic did not approve all that much, but it did
gain a public face for the first time since its conception in the United States. The process
of labeling those who contained the disease would be less likely since there is more
research out there that contradicts public opinion and knowledge. In greater contrast
Magic Johnson’s announcement comes in the brink of the AIDS epidemic hitting
minority communities in San Francisco, New York City and elsewhere. The CDC and
other health administrations cannot ignore the problem any further when all of

25. Grossi 25
Americans’ eyes are on them to help prevent any further spread of the disease.
According to the research done by Friedman and his team he learned that there was not
significant variables in a drug treatment program that can keep the disease in the HIV
infection phase and not lead to the full blown out AIDS disease.43 Furthermore, the
research done on AIDS around the year 1987 when Friedman and his team were
performing the studies did not see a significant indication of AIDS cases in minority
community and this could only mean these cases were not documented unlike their white
counterparts.44 Prior to Johnson’s announcement there was mobilization of the African
American race in Harlem to bring about an organized dialogue on October 31, 1987,
which was called, “Community Dialogue of AIDS”.45 Unfortunately there was not much
emphasis on the event even though it hopes to educate the African Americans in the New
York City community to be more cautious about their own health.
Conclusion
AIDS has changed the landscape of what those who thought racism was only a
social problem. The epidemic made Americans look at themselves through a glass mirror
to see if they liked what was reflected back toward them and what could be done to better
portray this image of America to the world. New York City was the obvious general
focus because it was home to millions of minorities and how government acted toward
these groups of different individuals would play out in the national scope of racism. The
importance was to realize the problem manufactured far further than health with AIDS,
but took over a new outlook with the involvement of different races. The basis of this
research is to shed light on the atrocities that occurred and are keep occurring in the
minority communities, but especially to the African Americans. There was a stigma

26. Grossi 26
attached to African Americans during the AIDS crisis that made those in charge such as
Margaret Hatcher, Secretary of Human Health and Services, and Ronald Reagan did not
address the issue properly in the African American communities. In 1991, when Earvin
“Magic” Johnson came out for contracting the HIV disease then there was now a public
figure to bring focus on the African American community nationwide and the
Department of Human Health and Services can not ignore this cry for help any longer.
The first hand accounts encountered in the Jacob Levenson’s book laid out a
framework to how the AIDS epidemic had been handled in San Francisco. Overall this
particular location represented much of the nation’s dire call for help in the minority
communities, but especially for African Americans. These individuals were left out to
fend for themselves without proper education or resources to stop the spread of the
epidemic throughout their community. The stereotypes and stigmas associated with
African Americans at the time thought that they all had this coming with their improper
lifestyle and choices that led them to contracting the disease. There were those who did
not believe in this racist philosophy and looked for a way to bypass the health system in
order to help. Hopefully this knowledge would not let another incident slip into the
cracks of America’s mind and would be more mindful to address the problem
immediately without any racial biases.
1 Jacob Levenson, The Secret Epidemic The Story of AIDS and Black America (New
York: Random House Inc., 2004), 55.
2 Samuel R. Friedman et al., “The AIDS Epidemic among Blacks and Hispanics,” The
Milbank Quarterly 65 (1987), 457.
3 Friedman et., “The AIDS,” 459.
4 Karen M. Booth, “Just Testing”: Race, Sex, and the Media in New York’s “Baby
AIDS” Debate,” Gender and Society 14 (2000), 645.
5 Booth, “Just Testing,” 653.
6 Ibid.

27. Grossi 27
7 Booth, “Just Testing,” 657.
8 Friedman et al., “The AIDS,” 471.
9 Friedman et al., “The AIDS,” 472.
10 Cathy J. Cohen, The Boundaries of Blackness AIDS and the Breakdown of Black
Politics (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999), 43.
11 Cohen, “The Boundaries of Blackness,” 34.
12 Ibid, 43.
13 Ibid, 59.
14 Philip Brian Harper, “Eloquence and Epitah: Black Nationalism and the Homophobic
Impulse in Responses to the Death of Max Robinson,” in Fear of a Queer Plant: Queer
Politics and Social Theory, ed. Michael Warner (University of Minnesota Press, 1994),
245.
15 Ibid, 239.
16 Ibid, 239.
17 Ernest Quimby and Samuel R. Friedman, “Dynamics of Black Mobilization against
AIDS in New York City,” Social Problems 36.4 (1989), 409.
18 Ibid.
19 Cohen, “The Boundaries of Blackness,” 67.
20 Cohen, “The Boundaries of Blackness,” 75.
21 Cohen, “The Boundaries of Blackness,” 90.
22 Levenson, “The Secret Epidemic,” 31.
23 Ibid, 31.
24 Ibid, 34.
25 Ibid, 35.
26 Ibid, 50.
27 Ibid, 50.
28 Ibid, 51.
29 Ibid, 81.
30 Ibid, 98.
31 Ibid, 101.
32 Ibid, 102.
33 Ibid, 103.
34 “Interview Margaret Heckler,” Frontline, PBS. 30 May 2006,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/interviews/heckler.html
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Richard W. Stevenson, “Basketball; Magic Johnson Ends His Career, Saying He Has
Aids Infection,” The New York Times, November 8, 1991, B12.
40 Ibid.
41 Ibid.
42 Ibid.
43 Friedman et al, “The AIDS,” 481.
44 Friedman et al, “The AIDS,” 482.

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45 Quimby and Friedman, “Dynamics of Black Mobilization,” 407.